THE LATE LAND CASE.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 31, 4 January 1884, Page 3

THE LATE LAND CASE.

Referring to the late sitting of the Native Lands Court in Gisborne, the Auckland Free Press expresses itself thus :— “ The important case, Wi te Ruke and others versus the New Zealand Land Co., having occupied the attention of the Court for several days and the result was the dismissal of the suit with costs £175. Leave, however, was reserved to the plaintiffs to move at the first sitting in “ banco,” at Wellington, after the long vocation, to reverse the judgment, and then to enter such judgment for the plaintiffs as the Court may think proper, upon the findings of the jury, the admissions made, and the judge’s notes. Dining the progress of this important case, some most disreputable transactions were brought to light, and the nefarious style in which the business of the Company is transacted was made manifest. Captain Porter, the newly-elected Mayor, having been for years in the ’ district, and at all times looked up to by the Maoris as a protector and guide, was appealed to by them to render his assistance, and though he must have well known that the defendants in this action would impute the worst motives to any aid or counsel that he might render, yet he never hesitated for a moment, but in an honest, fearless manner, clearly exposed the shameless trickery resorted to by this company in their acquisition of native lands. As it stands at present, the unfortunate natives in this case are mulct of their lands, having received in exchange not a tenth of its value in cash, but cajoled into accepting for a valuable block of land a parcel of worthless scrip, in comparison to which Esau’s mess of pottage was a princely gift. However, this “ expose ” of the Company’s tricky procedures will most certainly open the eyes of our dusky brethren, and their future chances of further acquisition will be most materially lessened. Altogether this action may be looked on as a great public good, and it is pretty certain that when the legal aspect of the case is made apparent, at the sittings in banco, the Company will sustain a most disgraceful defeat. The legal representative of the Company, Mr. W. L. Rees, strove hard, in his evidence and remarks, to cast a slur on the support accorded the Maoris by Captain T. W. Porter, but his efforts were vain,—it was manifest to all that that gentleman in his fearless champpionship of the unfortunate Maoris’ rights was actuated only by the purest of intentions. In fact, had it not been for the able assistance so readily granted to their appeal for help, their position would have been much worse, ana would have been allowed to continue their disgraceful impositition on the ignorance and credulity of the Natives. As it is, a very sensible check has been placed on their proceedings, and Captain Porter has deservedly earned the public approbation by his active, decided line of conduct in this important matter.

The libel case, in which Captain Kerr (late editor of Facts) was de.’eadant, w~& adjourned, 0./iiig to the serious indisposition of thu.i jjxxdeman. Had this case coine on, and startling Facts asserted in that journal been proven, the unenviable notoriety of the Native Land Co. would n_-ve been still further increased, and anyone connected witii it who valued in the slightest their perso nd tion, would have hastened to sever thei_ co nection with so shameless a body.”

TROTTING A MILE. The people who took tho chances of rain and a muddy track, and repaired to the Driving Park at Chicago on October 9, were richly rewarded. They witnessed the fastest mile ever paced, and saw for the first time the figures 2min. lOsec. hung out from the judges’ stand without any fractional adjunct. Although this was the greatest sporting extent of the year, and would have satisfied the most exacting spectators, they were further rewarded by witnessing one of the greatest, if not the greatest day's racing ever seen on lihe track of the Chicago Driving Park Association. There were no bad races. Every heat was closely contested, and the day will be long remembered in racing annals as an illustratxon of the fact that the best things on the turf occur when least expected. P, A. Johnston’s pacer Johnston was advertised to pace for a purse of £2OO to beat his own record of &nin. ll|sec, Bet few people had any idea that he would lower his record, and the betiihg was 5t04 on time. The slight I'ain of the morning had softened the track just enough to make it springy, and it was fast. Very little wind Was stirring, and everything was favorable. V. iv.-n Pete Johnston jogged down the track, immediately after the first heat in the stallion race, he was given the word for the first trial. This was little more than a warming up, and he finished in 2min 22|sec. After a rest of about half-an-hour Johnston again appeared for a second trial, The horse looked in the bust of trim, and his stride was clean and even coming down to the wire at a lively clip. The v. ord was given, and the crowd knew that the real trial had begun. Men stood about with s -op-watches, and as he passed the quarterpde in 32fsec. there was a faint hum among tl .e watchers. Without a skip the bay gelding swung around into the backstretch. Then he lengthened out, travelling like the wind. He passed the half-mile pole in Imin. 3£sec, Again there was a hum among the crowd, only louder this time, “ He’s going to knock the . record down a peg.” “Oh I Why didn’t 1 back him.” See him come, he ain't pacing, he’s flying,” and kindred exclamations could be heard on all sides. All this while the horse was moving like clock-work. He passed the third quarter in Imin, 36secs, and rounded into the homestretch with his clear, farreaching stride, moving as regularly as when he first left the wire. When within 200 ft. of the wire Johnston raised the whip and the audience held their breath, fearful of how the gamey horse would receive the sting on the flanks, but when it struck they saw their apprehension was groundless, for the horse just drew his head forward a trffle and his regular stride never changed, although he seemed to lengthen out just a little. The next instant he was under the wire and at the same time two watches marked 2min. lOsec., while the third was 2min. sec. Every one who held a stopwatch outsfde the judge’s stand, and there were many old turfmen among them, made 2min. 9|sec. The crowd cheered, but rather faintly, owing to the lack of numbers. When the judges hung out the time (2min. lOsec.) the two Johnstons (owner and horse) returned to the judges’ stand, and both looked as unruffled and cool as though nothing had happened, although it was evident that the biped Johnston was a dissembler. The above programme of Johnston is what he would have accomplished at the Summer Meeting had it not been for an accident. On August 20 Johnston was started to beat the 2min. llfsec. of Little Brown Jug. Pete Johnston had stationed a man at the halfmile post to give him the time. The man called it 3sec. fast. Johnston, supposing he had plenty of time, beat 2min. llfsee., did not push on, but in spite of this he tied the record, his time also being 2min. Ilf sec. The feat of yesterday not only does away with Little Brown Jug’s record, but it also goes one-quarter of a second better than that of Maud S. Johnston is a bay gelding, and was sired by Bashaw, Gold Dust dam, by Ned Forrest. Johnston comes of good trotting stock, but never showed an inclination to drop to the gait of his ancestors. Maud S. got her name from being a pet of Maud Stone, a bright littie daughter of Captain Stone, who first discovered the virtues of the horse. Jay-Eye See, that now aspires to the championship, got his name from the initials of his owner—J. I. Case, of Racine, Wisconsin.